Broadway Star May Irwin Summer Home Built Upon Club Island Near Clayton Born in 1862 in Whitby, Canada, less than 30 miles from downtown Toronto, broadway star May Irwin made her first stage appearance in Buffalo, N.Y., at Daniel Shelby’s Adelphi Variety Theater in 1875. There, she sang a duet with her sister Florence and […]
The 1897 Crouch-Daly Double Murder Outside Sackets Harbor Remains One Of The Area’s Most Disturbing And Mysterious Tragedies In the early morning hours, just past midnight, of April 16, 1897, what would become known as the Crouch-Daly Double Murder occurred, leaving two dead and one-near death and arguably a fourth victim. The ensuing mystery that […]
1998 Ice Storm Paralyzes North American With 4 Million Without Power, 44 Deaths, and Billions of Dollars In Damage The 1998 Ice Storm was influenced by the El-Nino pattern that brought heavy precipitation throughout parts of the United States and Canada, impacting the jet stream and bringing a confluence of factors together and resulting in […]
Pinnacle Hill Was A Nearly Inaccessible Paradise Back In The 1800s, With Nearby Park Land Planned For A Sanitarium Before the construction of City Park, later renamed to its benefactor, John C. Thompson as Thompson Park, Pinnacle Hill was a nearly inaccessible plot of land adjacent to what was referred to as Reservoir Hill, both […]
“All Cities Had Them” – Court Street Was Watertown’s Red Light District In The late 1800s, Early 1900s Mr. Watertown, Alex T. Duffy, once brought up Watertown’s red light district in a letter to the editor of the Watertown Daily Times on June 18, 1993. The topic of the letter, “A Walk Through The Past […]
The Vallat House On Factory Street: A Hotel At Factory Square With all the manufacturing on Factory Street, besides bars and restaurants, workers needed a place to stay, such as the Vallat House. Located right at Factory Square, the hotel/house was the residence of the Vallat family, though it is undetermined when it was initially […]
Capt. John Tibbetts Deeds Land To U.S. Government To Build Tibbetts Point Lighthouse in 1827 Initially constructed in 1827, the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse has a long and storied history whose beginnings go back to 1799 when Captain John Tibbetts of Troy, New York, received a land grant for 600 acres which would include the future […]
Shaughnessy Knitting Mill Weaves A Spin-Off: Olga Knitting Mills Located In Factory Square Olga Knitting Mills began in the early 1920s after the success of the Watertown Silk Manufacturing Company in 1904 and the Shaughnessy Knitting Mill opening on Moulton Street in 1909. According to a Feb 28, 1931 article in the Watertown Daily Times, […]
Idlewild Grows From Small Cottage To 21 Room Mansion With Various High-Profile Owners Over The Years The first mention of Idlewild in the local press occurred on August 27, 1873, in the Watertown Daily Times. The article focused on the excursion of Watertown Commandery No. 11, Knights of Columbus, to the Thousand Islands (an excursion […]
A Pioneer Christmas In 1804: Family Relocating To Northern New York Kept Journal Documenting Journey The following story of a Pioneer Christmas was printed initially on December 24, 1904, in the Watertown Daily Times and is believed to be the earliest account of Christmas in Northern New York of its kind to be preserved. The […]
Putting the “Con” In Zavikon Island Smallest International Bridge Story There’s a saying that may apply to Zavikon Island: if you repeat a lie enough, people think it’s true. Such is the basis of the illusory truth effect. Though unknown when the misinformation first began, the touting of the bridge between the two islands, which comprises […]
Downtown Vs. Uptown: The 1986 Christmas Shopping Season Was The First For Salmon Run Mall The 1986 Christmas shopping season marked a new era for Watertown, one of uncertainty and optimism for retailers but also a time of bargains, variety, and options for consumers. With the opening of Salmon Run Mall just a few months […]
The R. W. & O. R. R. (Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Rail Road) 1890 Christmas Surprise For Superintendent W. S. Jones The 1890 Christmas Surprise for Superintendent W. S. Jones was published in the Watertown Daily Times on December 26, 1890. It details the gratitude expressed by employees of R. W. & O. R. R., […]
A look Back At Christmas In Watertown, NY, In 1879 The following piece regarding Christmas in Watertown, 1879, was published in the Watertown Daily Times on December 26 of that same year. Unsurprisingly, the article highlights the role churches played 143 years ago, not only in religious activities but social and entertainment as well. Not […]
The Hubbard House, A Clayton Landmark On James Street The Hubbard House on James Street in Clayton is estimated to have been built in 1845. Some reports indicate it was owned by brothers John B. and James T. Hubbard, though the latter would only have been 15 years old at that date. Nevertheless, James reportedly […]
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas At Constable Hall: Cherished Poem Celebrates 200th Year Completed in 1819, Constable Hall, just outside Constableville, N.Y., took nine years to complete and is one of the historic mansions of Northern New York. Made for William Constable, Jr., son of a great Northern New York landowner Wm. Constable, Sr., and […]
The 1903 World Series of Football at Madison Square Garden Featured Watertown Red & Black and Franklin Athletic Club In Championship The Watertown Red & Black’s 1903 football season culminated in the undefeated team playing in the World Series of Football championship against undefeated Franklin Athletic Club out of Western Pennsylvania in New York City’s […]
Edgewood Club of Cleveland, Ohio, Build the $12,000 Club House “Edgewood Park Hotel” Near Alexandria Bay In 1886 Edgewood Park, located adjacent to Alexandria Bay and nearby Cherry Island, began in 1886 with the construction of the Edgewood Park Hotel. Using the business model established for Thousand Island Park, Central Park (later renamed St. Lawrence […]
The March 1947 Snowstorm: North Country Paralyzed By Three Consecutive Weekend Snow Storms The March 1947 snowstorm that occurred over four days at the beginning of the month dumped over 40 inches of new snow in the region and was deemed “the worst and most crippling ever to hit the north country.” The region was […]
George Boldt Cottage: Building Upon Sen. Eliza Hart’s Cottage before Building Boldt Castle Most “summer homes” stand in the shadow of Boldt Castle, but Heart Island’s previous structure, the Boldt Cottage, for lack of a better term, is often overlooked despite its own splendor rivaled by only a few others on the St. Lawrence River. […]
Big Box Retail Pioneer Robert Hall Clothing Store Opens In Watertown, NY, In 1960 Long gone but having changed the landscape of retail, low overhead and big box pioneer Robert Hall Clothing, founded by Jacob Schwab, opened its original Waterbury, Connecticut store in 1940. Though some reports have its founding in 1937/38, it officially celebrated […]
Alice B. Hoyt, Born In 1808, Remembers The VERY Early Days Of Public Square The following is a column published in the Watertown Daily Times from March 5, 1892, regarding Public Square as it once was. The author, Mrs. Alice B. Hoyt, had resided in Watertown since 1826 and wrote of her memories of the […]
George D. Colesante Opens “Colesante’s,” A Factory Street Mainstay After Prohibition Ends In 1933 If there’s a good location to open a neighborhood tavern, it’s near factories. In 1933, George D. Colesante opened Colaesante’s Restaurant on Factory Street after Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal Prohibition. Colesante […]
Amasa Corbin, Jr., of Gouverneur Organizes Thousand Islands Develop Co. and Builds Murray Hill Hotel on Murray Isle in 1895. In 1893, Gouverneur native Amasa Corbin, Jr. began plans for what would become the Murray Hill Hotel when he organized the Thousand Islands Investment Company and purchased Murray Isle just off Wellesley Island. Like other […]
William Benson Returns Home From WWI After Fighting Abroad At The Age Of 56 William Benson was born in England the year the Civil War ended in the United States. He fought in WWI while a resident of Watertown, N.Y., but served as a Canadian having enlisted in Kingston, Ontario. He died in Watertown, a proud […]
Burns and Frappier Partner In Service Station, Later Becomes L C Burns Service Station The long-standing L C Burns Service Station, located at the corner of Arsenal and Jackman Streets, was originally a Socony station. It was there that Lewis Burns first became associated with the location known as 202 Arsenal Street back in 1936 […]
Inventor Frank Ritter of Rochester Purchases Kepler’s Point, Builds Lindenhof In 1889 One of the many western New Yorkers to come to the Thousand Islands over the years, Frank Ritter built Lindenhof after purchasing what was then Kepler Point from Lewis Kepler and John F. Walton of Alexandria Bay for the price of $1,500. The […]
Col. George Flower purchases Stone House at 31 Washington Street In 1867 One of the old homes on Washington Street that was claimed for the construction of the State Office Building once belonged to Col. George Flower, older brother to Governor Roswell P. and Anson R. Flower. The old mansion made of native limestone was […]
From Harboring Slaves Fleeing To Canada To Ghost Hunting With Meat Loaf: Isle Of Pines Interesting History Isle of Pines is not the most written-about island on the St. Lawrence River. Its documented history is rather limited regarding the usual suspects: early newspapers and books written at the height of the Gilded Age; what does […]
Henry Evans Murdered Three In What Is Still Known As Slaughter Hill, Publicly Executed In Front Of Immense Crowd Near Court Street Bridge In 1828. The public execution by hanging of Henry Evans in 1828 is notable for a number of reasons, first and foremost for being the first such execution in the history of […]
The Oswego Ghost, George Fikes, A British Soldier From The Revolutionary War Becomes A News Sensation In The 1870s In the 1870s and 1880s, ghosts and hauntings were periodically featured in the Watertown Daily Times. The Oswego Ghost, George Fikes, was quite a sensation, or perhaps sensational journalism, which made headlines in the New York […]
Thousand Island Park Hotel Fire: A Handsome Fire-Trap per the Rochester Herald After Blaze Destroys It August 21, 1890 In 1883, eight years after the creation of the Thousand Island Park, the eponymously named Thousand Island Park Hotel was completed. Standing four stories, the park’s association heralded it as “a massive structure, thoroughly and substantially […]
The Warrens of “The Conjuring” & “Amityville Horror” Fame Visit 1 Lincoln Street Ghost at St. Lawrence University In 1979 Long before they were the subject of The Conjuring film universe in 2013, Ed and Lorraine Warren made a visit in search of the 1 Lincoln Street ghost at St. Lawrence University in 1979. The […]
Two Articles Regarding a Haunted House In Felts Mills Investigated By The Watertown Daily Times In 1881 The location of the haunted house in Felts Mills is a bit of a mystery based on the information given, stated as “on the direct road from Felts Mills by the campground across the plains to the Factory […]
Alice Greenfield Murder Near Pulaski In 1875 Took Three Trials And The Victim Purportedly Speaking From Beyond The Grave The Buffalo News called the Alice Greenfield murder in Orwell, N.Y., just east of Pulaski, “The most famous murder case this country has ever had” in an article published August 5, 1881. That was the date […]
Frederick Frazer Purchases Land On Cherry Island, Builds Nelfred Lodge, Later Known As Win-Lee, In 1918 Another of the stately summer homes on Cherry Island is Nelfred Lodge, located at the head of the island. Originally called Whortleberry Island and given to the Rev. George Rockwell by Azariah Walton, one of the early developers of […]
Watertown Daily Times Investigates Haunted House On Cedar Street In 1877 Cedar Street, in “The Sand Flats” area of Watertown, was rumored to have a haunted house located on it back in the 1870s. Cedar Street, as many have fond memories of, is where Morgia’s Restaurants were located for over 50 years. Nearly 1/5 of […]
Crevolin Family Builds, Then Rebuilds, Beechwood In Cape Vincent After Fire Destroyed Original Originally built c.1840 and later home to Henry Joseph and Cornelia Rosetta Calvin Crevolin, Beechwood was destroyed by fire shortly before the birth of their daughter, Caroline Josephine in 1854. Henry Joseph Crevolin’s parents had purchased the land from Vincent D. Le Ray […]
Eva Coo and the 1934 Murder at the Haunted House On Crumhorn Mountain The murder of Harry Wright, 49*, by Eva Coo, 42, and Martha Clift, 25, atop Crumhorn Mountain near an old house deemed haunted by locals, was one of the more preposterous murders in the history of Central New York (technically Mohawk Valley […]
The “Huntingtonville Mystery”: Investigating A Graveyard Ghost at Calvary Cemetery In 1880 The tale of a Graveyard Ghost back in 1880 at the Catholic Cemetery, what is now known as Calvary Cemetery (operated by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), is just one of many such investigations during the era conducted by the local newspapers, […]
Maud Island Purchased From Dr. Rev. F. B. A. Lewis By R. A. Livingston, Renamed Linlithgow Island Linlithgow Island has a rather short, if not altogether interesting history – especially when considering what it eventually became. Prior to its purchase and renaming in 1883-84, it was owned by a very well-known doctor from Watertown, Rev. […]
Enterprising Knapp Brothers Build Stone Mansion “Kilborne House” In Brownville Believed to have been built around 1827, the stone mansion commonly referred to as the Kilborne House (also spelled Kilborn) at Bridge Street and E. Main St. in Brownville was erected by Tracy and his brother Thomas Knapp (also spelled Knap). According to David F. […]
Recollections of an Old Jefferson County Boy, S. A. Webb, May 26, 1888. The following, Recollections of an old Jefferson County Boy, a former lawyer, S. A. Webb, who wrote to the Watertown Daily Times on May 26, 1888 after having read a piece about “Early Watertown.” The Early Watertown columns were featured for […]
Elks Carnival Held First Week Of July 1914 Draws Thousands To Public Square Long before Public Square began holding block parties in the modern era, the Elks Carnival was held there on July 1, 1914. The Board of Public Works granted permission in early June of that year for the Watertown Lodge, B. P. O. […]
Joel Sherwood Builds 18-Room Mansion On Iroquois Island In 1898 The Joel Sherwood summer home on Iroquois Island was erected in 1898 on what was then called Sherwood Island for a number of years. The property was also referred to as “The Willows” due to the numerous Weeping Willow trees on its premises. The summer home […]
The Central Park Hotel Becomes St. Lawrence Hotel, Then Hotel Lotus Hotel Lotus originally opened under the management of W. G. Williams of Watertown in mid-June of 1884 as the Central Park Hotel. Like the Thousand Island and Westminster Parks before it, the Central Park, later renamed St. Lawrence Park, was established as a community […]
James D. Le Ray de Chaumont Builds Historic Cape Vincent Stone House In 1815 Constructed in 1815 for Vincent Le Ray de Chaumont, son of James Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, the old “Stone House,” as it became known on Cape Vincent’s W. Broadway Ave, has stood the test of time. Surrounded by (presumed towering) […]
Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels At The Watertown Armory & Ronnie James Dio And The Prophets The following was written by Frank “Butch” Lamica recounting Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels playing at the Watertown Armory in what was essentially the first big rock and roll act in Watertown. Mitch Ryder and the Detroit […]
Theresa Native, Author, Inventor Byron A. Brooks Builds Brooklyn Terrace In Thousand Island Park Brooklyn Terrace in the Thousand Island Park was completed in 1892 for Byron A. Brooks, a famous author, teacher and inventor originally from nearby Theresa N.Y. A graduate of Wesleyan University of Middletown, Conn., in 1867, he returned to New York […]
The Goodyear Blimp Made Stops in 1975 & 1982, Drawing Approximately 36,000 In the late afternoon of July 15, 1975, the Goodyear Blimp approached the Watertown Municipal Airport giving the local residents a sight seldom seen. The Watertown Daily Times reported “house painting stopped, newspaper and broadcast switchboards lit up, cars were quickly pulled to […]
Cape Vincent’s Hotel Carleton, Nationally Known Hotel Resort In Thousand Islands Completed in 1901, Hotel Carleton in Cape Vincent became a nationally known landmark and attracted some notable and wealthy visitors over its many years. Those who came often did so for the area’s reputation as one of the best bass fishing locations on the […]
401 Mill Street, Home To J. B. Wise Co., Wilbur’s, California Brewery and Watertown Roller Skating Rink Completed in 1891, the J.B. Wise Co. factory at 401 Mill Street was later home to Wilbur’s Discount City, California Brewery, and the Watertown Roller Skating Rink. Originally built by J.B. Wise, the purchase of the land came […]
The Disappearance Of Sean Evans On May 17 1984 From 910 Water Street The disappearance of Sean Evans occurred in the late afternoon of March 17, 1984 when the two-year-old’s mother mother, Connie Evans, went into the house to answer a phone call. When she returned a few minutes later, a younger sibling left in […]
Boldt’s Wellesley Island Properties Included The Birches And Swiss Chalet According to the New York Times, George C. Boldt’s Swiss Chalet was originally built as a guest house in 1895. In the late 1800s, Boldt began developing properties in addition to his Wellesley House and farm on Wellesley Island as a “colony” of cottages. With […]
The Twelve Year Battle To Build A New Watertown High School On Washington Street Efforts began in earnest back in 1937 to get a new Watertown High School built replacing the then 30+ year old Sterling Street facility which had been expanded upon over its short history. In 1938, a voting referendum was held and […]
Boonville Train Crash One Of Worst In History Of Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Division Of NYCRR. Called one of the worst train accidents in the history of the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg division, the Boonville train crash on July 4, 1908, involved two passenger trains and one freight train in a head-on collision that took the […]
James T. Easton Of Brooklyn Erects Stuyvesant Lodge On Cherry Island Stuyvesant Lodge is another of the mid-1880s summer homes in the Thousand Islands that doesn’t appear to have much information in newspapers nor photographs in general to help recount its history. Built on Cherry Island, earlier known as Whortleberry Island which the local river […]
Goulding, Bagley & Sewall Became Bagley & Sewall, Later Purchased By Black Clawson The origins of Black Clawson dates all the way back to the 1820s when George Goulding opened a business on Fairbanks Street for manufacturing machinery and mill supplies. The business had many partners in its early years, Benjamin Berry and Andrew Anderson […]
Completed In 1884, The Marsden House, Later The Thousand Islands Hotel, Becomes Landmark In Alexandria Bay After a short stint in Cape Vincent, Gaston A. Marsden moved to Alexandria Bay in 1875 and had the Marsden House erected 1884 on the site of the former Cedar Hall, a summer building which he previously built upon his arrival. There, […]
Kite Day and Country Jamboree Drew Thousands To Thompson Park In The 70s & 80s It may be hard for younger generations to fathom, but when Kite Day and the country music Jamboree were held annually in Thompson Park during the late 70s and early 80s, sun-baked crowds often averaged between 7,000 – 10,000 individuals […]
Cleveland Mayor William G. Rose Builds Mansion On Rose Island – Later Summer Home for Gen. J. Leslie Kincaid In 1880, William G. Rose, former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, purchased Rose Island from Charles Walton and John F. Walton, executors of Azariah Walton, deceased, for $475. About the same time, Catherine P. Herrick sold the […]
Edwin Paddock Mansion Becomes Jefferson County Historical Society The Paddock Mansion on Washington Street in Watertown, N. Y., for nearly a century now home to the Jefferson County Historical Society, was built in 1876 for Edwin L. Paddock four years after the death of his influential father, Loveland Paddock. Edwin had his home, a mixture […]
The Thousand Island Yacht Club On Welcome Island – Est. 1896 The Thousand Island Yacht Club’s home on Welcome Island began in 1895, when W. C. Browning, a director of the then named Thousand Island Club and head of the St. Lawrence River Real Estate Association, purchased Welcome Island with the intention of building a […]
Is The Jefferson County Fair The Longest Consecutively Running Fair At 206 in 2023? The Jefferson County Fair has the distinction of being the longest consecutively running county fair in the United States and will be celebrating its 207 consecutive years in 2024 . . . or so it’s being promoted as such. In researching […]
F3 Boonville Tornado on May 2, 1983 Caused $15 Million In Damage The Boonville Tornado of May 2, 1983 was part of an outbreak in Michigan, Ohio, Southern Ontario, Pennsylvania and New York. The storms resulted in a total of five fatalities in New York and Ohio, with three occurring in the Empire State alone. […]
George Cook And The Soldiers’ And Sailors’ Monument, Dedicated In 1891 The story behind George Cook and his wife, Adeline Granger Cook, gifting the city of Watertown its soldiers’ and sailors’ monument in 1891 is a remarkable one given George’s personal history and the fact he wasn’t a native of the area. George and Adeline, who […]
The Carson Mansion, Most Photographed Victorian Mansion In The USA? The story of Eureka, California’s Carson Mansion begins with a man’s quest for gold in the 1849 gold rush, but striking a fortune in redwood instead. Born in New Brunswick in 1825, William Coleman Carson left Canada at the age of 24 during the gold […]
Westminster Park – Est. 1877 On “Wells Island” In 1877, an association was formed to purchase land on the eastern end of Wellesley Island in what would become Westminster Park. The Watertown Daily Times reported in April of that year the proposed purchase was to make the park of approximately 500 acres “a popular place […]
Life In The Sand Flats Revolved Around Gardening For Many Italian-American Immigrants In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Sand Flats, an area consisting of lower Arsenal Street and spreading to Coffeen Street, became home to early Italian-American immigrants who transformed what was described as swamplands on the west side of the city of […]
Twin Island – Two Little Islands With Two Big Stars Not too far from Castle Francis and the Thousand Island Park is Twin Island, an unassuming little slice of paradise on the St. Lawrence with wonderful views and once the summer home to a well-known comedian and future Hollywood star. The island’s close proximity to […]
Paddock Arcade, First Glass-Covered Street In The United States Long before it was home to the Paddock Arcade, the lot on which the first “glass-covered street” in the United States has stood for 172 years was the place where Hart Massey built his first house in 1801. The name Paddock Arcade was simply derived from […]
Castle Francis, The 1000 Islands Summer Home With A Turret Castle Francis was another summer home in the 1000 Islands region erected by Seth G. Pope of Ogdensburg sometime during the mid-1880s for Rev. M. W. Chase, also of Ogdensburg. Situated on what was once referred to as Long Tree Island, it was less than […]
After Court Battle, 1000 Islands Music Festival Featuring Blue Öyster Cult Falls Far Short Of “Feared” 100,000 Attendees Summertime is the perfect time for a music festival. The 1981 1000 Islands Music Festival was coming on the heels of a few years of low-keyed events – so low-key, in fact, there was scant media coverage, […]
Wau Winet Island – Then And Now One of the earliest information on the many variations of spelling for Wau Winet Island in local newspapers came in 1892 when Charles E. Hill of Chicago moved and raised the existing cottage and built an addition to it. Later that year, he would relocate his family to […]
The City’s Parks and Recreation Playground Mardi Gras Parades Of Yesteryear Trying to find history on Watertown’s Parks and Recreation playground Mardi Gras parades involving its many playgrounds over the years is the epitome of looking for a needle in a haystack. The keywords “Mardi Gras” in newspaper databases ultimately pull up thousands and thousands […]
Michael Chauncey of New York City Erects A Thousand Islands Showcase Property On Cuba Island Michael Chauncey, one of the largest real estate dealers in Brooklyn, purchased Cuba Island from the Cornwall Brothers in 1890. The one-acre island, formerly the property of W. E. Story of Buffalo, was purchased by the Cornwall Brothers just two […]
Kinney Drugs Opens Its 12th Location In 1959 At Seaway Plaza The birth of Kinney Drugs began in 1903 with the opening of its first store, in Gouverneur, N.Y., by Burt O. Kinney. Born in 1873, the 30-year-old Kinney, a native son, would build a regional drugstore chain that continues to grow at a measured […]
H. H. Babcock Mansion Gets A Greek Revival Makeover By Anson R. Flower And Later Becomes Cleveland Funeral Home Constructed in the 1860s for Henry Holmes Babcock, president of the H. H. Babcock Co., the grand white Babcock mansion at 404 Sherman Street, home to the Cleveland Funeral Home since 1952, was heavily influenced by […]
Rosette Island – Longue Vue Island Added To U.S. National Register Of Historic Places In 1982 In 1901, Hudson P. Rose purchased a parcel of land, possibly what became Rosette Island, from his brother, Frederick H. Rose, in the town of Alexandria. Four years later, in May of 1905, Hudson and his wife, Molly M. […]
J. B. Taylor Summer Home Turned Into Pine Tree Point Club By Thomson Family The Pine Tree Point Club made its debut in 1954 after A. Graham Thomson and his wife, Therese Theoret Thomson, purchased the original palatial stone mansion overlooking the St. Lawrence River at Alexandria Bay from Dr. and Mrs. (Sallie Taylor Robinson) Walter […]
Fairyland Island, Home To The Hayden Family Summer Homes Fairyland is the curious name given, and rather confusingly so, to an island, a summer home, and a summer home on another island that was once referred to as Little Fraud Island. Throw in a few generations of the Hayden family with three different summer homes […]
Adventure Town 1000 Islands Brought The Wild West To Edgewood Resort Looking to draw tourists to Edgewood Resort, co-owners George L. Clark and George (Bud) H. Hebert would create Adventure Town in 1955. An ode to the wild-wild west of yesteryear, Adventure Town was constructed on the site of the former Edgewood International Speedway and […]
Explosion At 423 Dimmick Street Leaves 8 Children Dead In Watertown Tragedy, July 12 1922 On a warm, sunny summer afternoon, eight children ranging from the ages of 8 to 16 gathered at 423 Dimmick Street in Watertown, N.Y., to play a game of croquet. The residence, a two-story concrete block building, belonged to Mr. […]
The History Of The Oscar Paddock Carriage House – The Finest Of Its Time The Oscar Paddock carriage house, built with a barn and stable in 1876 when Oscar Paddock remodeled his home at 216 Washington Street, was a two story brick building fronting Stone Street at its original address of 9 (it would later […]
New York City Supreme Court Judge Donahue Summer Home On Steamboat Island One of the early mansions in the Thousand Islands, the Judge Donahue summer home on Steamboat Island, has been a bit of a challenge to find information on as is Judge Donahue himself. Once Judge Donahue, a Supreme Court judge from New York […]
The Oscar Paddock Mansion On Washington St. Along With The Other Paddock Mansions Were Sights To Behold One of the old homes on Washington Street that has long since departed is the Oscar Paddock mansion, once located next to sibling Edwin Paddock‘s mansion which has been home to the Jefferson County Historical Society for 100 […]
The Palatial Orville Brainard Mansion Became Elks Club In 1913 One of the earlier palatial homes on Washington Street in Watertown, N.Y., was the Orville V. Brainard mansion. Although no definite date could be established for its construction, references to it as the Brainard address on Washington Street appear as early as the 1860s. Its […]
F. W. Woolworth’s Vision Of The Woolworth Building on Public Square Was Much Different Although F. W. Woolworth had architectural plans in development for a new Woolworth building in Watertown completed by Cass Gilbert, notable architect of the Woolworth Building in New York City and then largest building in the world, it was the death […]
Imperial Isle in the 1000 Islands Long before Gilbert T. Rafferty built his castle-like summer home on Imperial Isle in “Millionaire’s Row,” the island was described in the book Meanderings Among A Thousand Islands as once being “not much more than a little cluster of rocks with a few trees on one of them.” It would […]
Frank Augsbury, Who Renovated Madison Barracks, Brings Northern New York WaterFun Village The first attempt at building WaterFun Village at Collins Landing near the foot of the 1000 Islands Bridge would come in 1979 when Interstate Recreation Co., Hilton Head, South Carolina, in conjunction with 20 limited partners, sought to lease property from the Thousand […]
Westcott Family Property Since 1803 Becomes Part Of Westcott Beach State Park Westcott Beach had long been part of the Wescott family, going back to their building a farm on Chestnut Ridge in 1803. In the 1930s, then-owner Charles Wescott would operate it as a private beach charging .25¢ admission per vehicle. Within a few […]
From Kirby House, to Earll Hotel, Hotel Hardiman and Roosevelt Hotel, the Old Court Street Hotel Saw a Lot In Its 116 Years The Kirby House on Court Street was built in 1850 when the village of Watertown was experiencing unprecedented re-construction after the great fire of 1849. Occupying the site previously was a house […]
High Upon Bartlett Point Once Sat Manatauk Hotel Overlooking Clayton and The St. Lawrence River Completed around 1901, what was most commonly known as the Manatauk Hotel was briefly named both the St. Lawrence Club House and the Clayton Clubhouse. Perched high atop what was then named Prospect Point, formerly (and currently once again) Bartlett […]
Last of The Jean’s Beans Still Going Strong At Same Location Despite Difficulties Launching In 1953 Even if you’ve never been able to walk into Jean’s Beans on Eastern Boulevard and savor the aroma on any given day, chances are you may very well be familiar with Jean’s Potato Chips, established in 1924. In their […]
Jefferson County Almshouse, Once An Orphanage, County Home For The Aged And Deathbed Of Famed Musician Nick Goodall The long history of the Jefferson County Almshouse, also known as the County Home for the Aged and “Poor House,” began back in 1825 when prominent citizens were appointed to find a suitable site for erecting a […]
The Adriel Ely Store Has A Long and Notable History Of Connections To Who’s Who In Watertown History The Adriel Ely store was just one of many businesses to occupy the two-story stone building that long ago graced the south corner of Washington and Stone Streets in the 19th century. For the sake of clarity […]
Neh-Mahbin, Summer Home (Or Island?) To James H. Oliphant And Family One of the more curiously named islands of the Thousand Islands region, Neh-Mahbin, has outdone its landbound neighbor, Keewaydin, in the various spellings found over the years in various media. They include Neh-Nahbin, Neh-Mahbin, Neh-Mahdin, Nehmahdin, Ne-mah-bin, Neh Mahin, Neh Nabbin, Nehmabin, Nemabbin, Neh-Mabin […]
The Fairgrounds Pool, Later Renamed Steve D. Alteri Pool, And A Strange Case Of Déjà Vu. When it comes to the Steve D. Alteri Pool, aka the Fairgrounds Pool, and its history, one is reminded of the quote from philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Various iterations of […]
Judge Sawyer Mansion at 141 Ten Eyck Street One of the large, old homes in the city is located at 141 Ten Eyck Street and was the Judge Sawyer mansion back around the turn of the 20th century. The only construction date located, its address changing at least three times from 5, to 111, to […]
Emma Flower Taylor Gifts The city A Bide-A-Wee Hospital Prior to the creation of the Bide-A-Wee Hospital on Bradley Street, Emma Flower Taylor would gift the House of the Good Samaritan the Taylor building, originally intended for use a contagious hospital for care of those with communicable diseases, in 1905. However, the board of the […]
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